1.Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile telecommunications network, and more particularly, to a method for prioritizing call paging and terminating call setup.
2. Description of Related Art
Priority call connection is an area of significant interest in cellular communications systems since the number of calls which are handled by a cellular system is limited to the number of allocated channels. Many situations may require an expedited connection, for example, the emergency service bureau (ESB), more commonly known in the United States as 9-1-1 service, provides emergency assistance to persons in need of help. A mobile telephone subscriber seeking emergency services, merely has to dial a short unique number (such as 911 in the U.S.) to establish a fast emergency call connection with a public safety answering point (PSAP) providing the ESB service. Once the emergency call has been setup, the mobile station may then transmit signals to and receive signals from the PSAP. If the emergency call connection fails in some manner, the operators at the PSAP must make a return call to the subscriber in order to make sure that the emergency has been satisfactorily taken care of or determine if additional help is still needed.
A problem arises when the PSAP is trying to reconnect the terminated call. While the originating call from the PSAP may be prioritized due to the location from which the call originated, there is no priority assigned from the PSAP to the mobile subscriber. Thus, the call paging and channel assignment processes between the PSAP and the subscriber will not have priority over normal traffic and paging channel assignment. A manner for assuring quicker connection to the disconnected subscriber would be greatly beneficial.
Businesses could also benefit from prioritized call connection services. For example, in situations where a company may need to get in touch with employees, salesmen, etc. that are working within the field and only are able to be contacted through a mobile station, prioritizing a call connection to and form the employee could provide a substantial marketing advantage to a company. The company may of course contact the remote employee through standard cellular communications methods. However, the calls are assigned no greater priority then any other call being processed by the cellular communications system. If time is of the essence, a manner in which both the originating call from the company and the terminating call response from the employee could be prioritized over existing cellular traffic would be a premium service which might be provided by cellular system providers for an additional fee.